Buying Bread Hurts My Head

Whole-wheat, White bread, wheat bread (with wheatberry), mixed grain bread, French bread, Pita bread, Italian bread, rye bread, reduced calorie wheat bread, cracked-wheat bread, pumpernickle bread, reduced calorie white bread, Nature's own honey wheat bread, egg bread, health nut bread, light wheat 99% fat free bread, Country Hearth sour dough bread, Country hearth life 100% stone ground whole wheat, pepperidge farm , 100% whole wheat whole grain bread, Aunt Millie's whole wheat bread, reduced-calorie rye bread, white bread, low sodium bread, natural oven's bakery multi grain bread, 12 whole grain bread, Mrs Baird's Honey wheat, Oatmeal bread, . . .

This is merely a selection of the different types of bread offered by the CT grocery - Stop and Shop. Its like I stop to shop, and then I never leave because I am seized with indecision.

Can you believe how many different kinds of bread there are??
The worst is the grain issue. I know that I want to buy some healthy, grainy bread. Whole wheat is not enough, no siree, I plan on delving further on into the realm of the 'whole grain.' And then I must face the question, how many grains are enough? Do I want "multi-grain" "5 grain" "7 grain" "12 grain" or should I settle for naming a specific type of grain, like "oatmeal." What IS a grain? Is it better to have fewer calories, or more grains?

I feel like I need a phD in nutritional science to buy my own bread.

However, never fear. In a quest to become the educated consumer, I have scoured the internet and found a few bread health facts that will make your healthy purchasing much more simple.

1. Look for the words, "whole grain." If the grain is not whole, you are not getting many healthy benefits, such as high fiber content and anti-oxidents.

2. A grain is considered whole when it contains the bran, the germ and the endosperm. Wide rice, brown rice, whole wheat, oatmeal, whole oats, barley, whole rye, bulgar and popcorn are all types of whole grains.



3. "Multi-grain" "stone-ground" "100% wheat" "seven-grain" or "bran" MAY NOT BE whole grain bread products. Instead, quickly check the ingredient list to make sure the whole "whole" appears.

4. Color is not a good indicator of bread quality, as "caramel" coloring is often added to make bread look brown.